---
title: "Cafe Concession - Gisburn"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-06d19d"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-06d19d"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06d19d.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06d19d.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Planning"
buyer: "FORESTRY COMMISSION"
published: "2026-07-23"
---

# Cafe Concession - Gisburn

Buyer: FORESTRY COMMISSION  
Current stage: Planning  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-06d19d

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## Summary

The Forestry Commission is in the planning stage of procuring a concession for a café operator in Gisburn Forest, located in the Forest of Bowland National Landscape. The planned tender, set to open around late August or early September 2026, seeks a food and beverage service provider under the industry category of restaurant and food-serving services. The procurement process, identified by ID 069590-2026, will follow a tender initiation type, allowing for potential registration through the Panacea tendering portal. Interested parties should note the milestone engagement due by 21 August 2026, along with the contract period commencing on 1 November 2026 and running until 31 October 2036. The milestone date highlights the importance of notifying interested parties and registering their interest promptly.

This forthcoming tender presents significant opportunities for businesses, especially SMEs and organisations within the voluntary, community, and social enterprise sectors, to expand into the service sector of a popular visitor location. With Gisburn Forest attracting approximately 80,000 visitors annually and hosting diverse events, the café operation can tap into a steady and varied customer base. The potential contract value up to £3,000,000 underscores this opportunity. Businesses proficient in high-volume customer service operations and innovative food offerings would be particularly well-positioned to thrive in this competitive bidding process, contributing to both community engagement and business growth.

## Notice

Forestry England are looking for a food and beverage operator to manage Gisburn Forest Cafe. Gisburn Forest is located within the Forest of Bowland National Landscape and is managed by Forestry England attracting visitors from Blackburn, Burnley, Preston and further afield. The forest has a growing recreational offer including 18 miles of mountain bike trails some more challenging than others, 10 miles of walks in the forest and access to a further 8 miles around the neighbouring Stock reservoir. It welcomes 80,000 visitors a year and hosts an wide variety of events from yoga, mountain bike races, outdoor music evenings, crafting days and accessibility conferences. Gisburn Forest cafe offer will play a central role in welcoming visitors walk, bike and relax in the forest. We anticipate the tender will be live towards the end of August/beginning of September 2026. Interested parties should register on the Panacea tendering portal via this link in anticipation of the tender going live - https://app.panacea-software.com/ForestryCommission/Login.aspx

### Planning Information

The purpose of the engagement is to notify potentially interested parties that the tender process is imminent and to register their interest.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/069590-2026 |
| Notice type | UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Not Specified |
| Procurement method details | Not specified |
| Tender suitability | SME, VCSE |
| Awardee scale | Not specified |
| All stages | Planning |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 23 Jul 2026 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | 24 Aug 2026 |
| Award date | Not specified |
| Contract period | 1 Nov 2026 - 31 Oct 2036 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | £2,500,000 |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | Not specified |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Planning |
| Lots status | Planning |
| Awards status | Not specified |
| Contracts status | Not specified |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | FORESTRY COMMISSION |
| Locality | BRISTOL |
| Post town | Bristol |
| Postcode | BS16 1EJ |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLK South West (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLK5 West of England |
| ITL 3 | TLK52 Bath & North East Somerset and South Gloucestershire |
| Local authority | South Gloucestershire |
| Electoral ward | Stoke Park & Cheswick |
| Westminster constituency | Filton and Bradley Stoke |
| Delivery location | Not specified |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 55 - Hotel, restaurant and retail trade services

### Codes

- 55300000 - Restaurant and food-serving services

## Release History

- 23 Jul 2026 at 10:25 - Planning - UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/069590-2026

## Documents

- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/069590-2026
  23rd July 2026 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender

## Notice URLs

- https://app.panacea-software.com/ForestryCommission/Login.aspx
- https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents

## Provenance

This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-06d19d. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06d19d.json.